Breeching.



0. BROCKMAN.

BREECHING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 1915.

1, 173,248. r Patented Feb. 29,1916.

Zlubcnhu- THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH 20., WASHINGTON, D. 64

UNITED %TATE% PATENT @FFIQE OSCAR BROCKMAN, 0F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

BREEGHING.

Application filed June 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OSCAR BROCKMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breeching; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to harness, and more especially to breechings; and the primary object of the same is to construct a breeching composed almost entirely of rope, together with the necessary fittings.

Another object is to secure the stretches of rope together side by side so as to form a more or less fiat breeching strap; to pass the rope through its metal fittings and back and forth in such manner that the breeching strap and the two hip straps are all made of one piece of rope; to connect the hip straps with theback strap by ordinary buckles and yet in such manner as to render the breeching detachable and adjust able; and finally to provide for a crupper made of rope.

These various objects are accomplished in a manner hereinafter fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of this breeching complete, showing it in position upon a horse. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged side elevations of the two special metal fittings employed, showing the manner in which the rope is roven through and about their parts; and Fig. 4 is an edge view of the so-called anchor.

In carrying out the primary object of this invention, I employ any durable weatherresisting rope for the breeching strap and both hip straps, and I may conveniently employ another rope for the crupper. I may make the back strap of webbing or leather, or in fact this also could be made of rope if desired. As shown, the back strap B may be assumed to be a webbing, and no claim on this element alone is made, nor on the holdback strap H or its snap hook S. The special fittings are two so-called clasps and two so-called anchors, and all may be of galvanized iron or japanned or otherwise treated to prevent rust, or if Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1911 6.

Serial No. 31,584.

desired they could be nickeled or otherwise ornamented. Fig. 1 shows only one side of the breeching, and as it is substantially duplicate on the other or inside I need de scribe only what appears.

Coming now to the details of the invention, the breeching strap 1 is made up of a single piece of rope, it has clasps 20 at its extremities and anchors 30 in its body at points which would fall about where the strap is divided into thirds. Beginning with the terminal 2 the rope is rove forward through the clasp as seen at 3, then bent back to the rear at 1 and rove backward through the clasp at 5; its lower stretch 6 is then engaged with the anchor as seen at 7 and carried around behind the horse, engaged with the other anchor and rove through the other clasp; then it returns in the next stretch 8 and the described disposition is repeated to make the third stretch 9; then it returns in the fourth stretch 10 which is rove through the clasp in the manner already described; and after leaving the clasp it is carried upward as at 11 to form the hip strap 12. In Fig. 1 it will be seen that the'bend 13 at the upper end of this strap is passed through an ordinary buckle 14 and lies over its tongue, and this arrangement permits the ready connection of the hip strap with the back strap B, or its disconnection by disengaging the bend from said tongue. Also this connection permits adjustment, because the bend can be given several turns around the tongue. This stretch of rope leads from the bend downward and rearward as at 15 and is rove through the eyes of the anchor as at 16, and thence it passes around the rear of the horse in the uppermost stretch 17, and its other extremity will terminate in the opposite and unseen clasp much as seen in Fig. 2 excepting that it will be at the top of the clasp instead of at the bottom. Thus there are five stretches of the rope between the two anchors and but four stretches of rope between each anchor and the nearest clasp, the fifth or uppermost stretch at this point being diverted upward to form the hip strap 12. these various stretches on edge so that the breeching strap 1 may be flat, any suitable means may be employed such as a lacing or stitching 18 of stout twine or possible even of wire.

The clasps 20 referred to above are duplicates and of metal, either cast or stamped. Each is formed at its front end with a rather large eye 21 of D shape, rearward from whose straight side 22 the upper and lower bars23 and 24: preferably diverge slightly. These bars are connected by a cross bar 25 slightly remote from and parallel with the straight side or forward cross bar 22, and the rear ends of the upper and lower bars are connected by a loop 26 which is best seen in Fig. 1. Through this loop pass all the stretches of the rope, and said stretches are rove over and under the rear cross bar and around the front cross bar as best seen in Fig. 2.

The anchors 30 referred to above are also in duplicate and of metal. Each comprises an upright body or shank 31 having heads at its extremities. The upper head is made of a cross bar 32 whose ends 33 are bent downward and curved inward so as to form two eyes, but the extremities 34 of these ends need not join the shank to complete the eyes if the latter be made of a size which rather closely embrace the rope. The lower head is a straight cross bar 35 preferably beveled off at its ends on its lower side at 36 to prevent anything from catching thereon. The four stretches 6, 8, 9 and 10 of the rope are engaged with the shank 31 by opening up or uncoiling the strands of the rope at a proper point and passing said shank between the strands so that at least one of the latter will stand at the outside of the shank as indicated at 7 in Fig. 3; and the uppermost or fifth stretch of rope 17 passes under one of the ends 33, bends outward as at 16 and passes over the shank 31, then passes under the other end 33, and leads upward at 15 into the hip strap 12. Thus it will be seen that two strands of four stretches of the rope are behind the shank, and the uppermost stretch is entirely outside the shank, the latter and its ends 33 being bent forward as seen in Fig. 4c. The result is that the rope set up little or no wear on the horses hide at this point. lVhere the clasp occurs the anatomy of the horse is such that the harness parts do not usually contact with the hide, especially when the snap hook S of the holdback strap H is engaged with the eye 21 and some tension is applied to the breech- 111 its a fitting accompaniment to a breeching made of rope, I may also make the crupper of rope. If so I preferably lead a stretch of rope along the back as seen at 40, pass it through a loop 41 carried by the back strap B, tie a knot in it as seen at 42, then form it into a loop 43 embracing the tail and constituting the crupper proper, and lash the extremity of the rope to its body as at The obvious purpose of the knot is to prevent the back strap B from slipping down over the rump. If said back strap itself be of rope, any suitable means may be employed for attaching a loop il thereto, or

straps, the shank of each anchor passing through all said stretches excepting the uppermost, and the latter leading under the upper head of each anchor, diverted upward into a hip strap, and leading thence clownward and to the nearest holdback.

2. The herein-described breeching made up of a plurality of stretches of a single piece of rope, metal fittings with which said stretches engage, means for attaching the fittings to the holdbacks, the uppermost stretch of rope being diverted from the other stretches and formed into hip straps, and a back strap having buckles at its ends for engaging said hip straps. V

3. The herein-described breeching includ ing two metal clasps each having an eye at its front end, a loop at its rear end, and cross bars between such parts; and a breeching strap composed of a single piece of'rope bent into a plurality of stretches connected with each other side by side and all passed through the loop and rove around the cross bars of each clasp.

4. The herein-described breeching including two metal clasps each having an eye at its front end, a loop at its rear end, and cross bars between such parts; and a breeching strap composed of a single piece of rope bent into a plurality of stretches connected with each other side by side and all passed through the loop and rove around the cross bars of each clasp; combined with a pair of anchors each having a straight upright shank engaging said stretches of rope, the uppermost stretch leading from the anchor upward and then bent and carried clownward to the nearest clasp to constitute a hip strap. V

5. The herein-described oreeching including a pair of metal clasps each having cross bars and a loop, a pair of anchors each having an upright shank with heads at both ends; and a. single piece of rope bent into a plurality of stretches connected with each other side by side and all passed through the loop and rove around the cross bars of each clasp, the shank of each anchor passing between the strands of all said stretches excepting the uppermost, and the latter leading under the upper head of each anchor,

diverted upward into a hip strap, and leading thence downward and into the loop of the nearest clasp.

6. In a breeching, the combination with a strap made up of a plurality of stretches of rope secured together side by side, clasps at the ends of said strap adapted for connection to the holdbacks, and a back strap; of two metal anchors each comprising an upright shank passing through the strands of all stretches of the rope but the uppermost, a straight cross bar at the lower end of the shank underlying the lowermost stretch, and a bent cross bar at the upper end of the shank formed into two eyes through which the uppermost stretch is rove, said stretch diverted thence upward to form the hip gig straps, and means for connecting each of said hip straps with one end of the back strap.

7. The combination with a back strap adapted for connection at its ends with the breeching, and a loop at its center; of a stretch of rope passing through said loop, formed into a knot behind it, and then looped and lashed to itself to constitute a crupper.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR BROCKMAN,

WVitnesses:

CHARLES GRAETER, Jr., GEO. GRIFFIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

